There were any number of decisions that were really stupid from a production standpoint. Like having contractors ship their entire lot of parts before a single carbine had cleared the factory. They couldn't even heat treat their firing pins correctly. And when they needed skilled people to change the picture, they were not around. IP was competing with companies that produced complicated mass produced parts on a regular basis, SP, Quality, IBM, Underwood all excelled at what they did. The two companies that were in over their head IP and Rock-Ola both struggled by comparison. Reputation doesn't make things, management and attention to detail does.